REFLECTIONS

A Time to be Born

Phillip and Traci surprised us that Thanksgiving Day. They were expecting their first child. The announcement prompted a plethora of emotions to race through my mind; some shared their excitement, others exposed concerns about health matters both for Traci and the baby. I also felt ripples of change entering our little world.

Indeed, our world did change. Birth day came early. Traci’s health took a bad turn and the baby necessarily took its first breath only 28 weeks into the pregnancy. Traci rebounded quickly so all eyes turned to Olivia, all one pound-eight ounces of her.

Newborns aren’t expected to shape the world, at least not before several years of training and experience. But let’s think again. Olivia impacted lives the day she was discovered in her mother’s womb. Traci’s life changed instantly, and only a few heartbeats later, Phillip’s life changed too. It didn’t stop there. The change in their lives rippled through the lives of all those around them.

The cycle of life, we think, is simply a part of nature. We believe years of preparation are required before anything we do will matter much at all. But think again.

Olivia really stirred things up when she entered this world 12 weeks ahead of nature’s schedule. She presented some doctors with delicate challenges, created jobs for around-the-clock nurses, and drew a prayerful family even closer to God. Love grew in bunches that day. It was Olivia’s time to be born. And all she had to do was be.

Your birth day, the day you took your first breath, began your adventure in this world. Only God knows why He chose exactly that time for you to be born. Why not the day before or the day following, or three months early as it was with Olivia? All we can really know is that He has a special journey for you to travel through this world. There are places to go and people to see, and things in need of a special touch He uniquely blessed you to give. He chose you for it before you took your first breath in this world.

Olivia has since celebrated her first birthday, her insightful eyes dancing, her warm smile captivating. God saw the need for a little more joy in the world, and to provide it, it was time for Olivia to be born. Even at conception, she made a ripple in the world, one that it will not end even after her season of life is through.

As we travel our journeys through this life, nature teaches us to learn from yesterday; drives us to build for tomorrow, but to live only today. Our lives make a difference even if it doesn’t seem so. Sometimes it’s by what we do; sometimes by what we say; but for God to use us to change the world, sometimes all we need to do is be.

You are the light of the world,

Richard +

www.reflectingthesavior.org.

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